Entry 6- Knowing Your Place in the World in Nature Journal

From this week, I gained a lot of insight to the world around me and to the nature of humankind as a whole.

The Dao de Jing and The Way of Water and Sprouts of Virtue are really a great pairing. They help each other to be understood more in depth, and play a part in the overall ideas that are expressed in Chinese thought.

My nature place has been going through some changes recently due to the weather starting to change, which is really great because the main thing I wanted to discuss and talk more about is the idea of cycles in nature, and humankind. The enormous amount of rain we were getting has been great for the flowers, but also a realisation that it will end and the flowers will die soon.

Here in the Western world, we see things coming to an end as ‘dying’. It is a sad thing for many of us. Many people hate the ending of summer, the ending of a party, the ending of a book…However, in Chinese philosophy there are beginnings in every ending and visa versa. Everything is a circle that feeds into the next part of the cycle and comes back to center. There is a balance in Earth and from all things. When one thing is out of balance, one needs to add more, or take away from something.

This idea also reminds me of Physiology during the Middle Ages in Europe. It is interesting to se that Chinese medicine also follows this pattern, and many claim that it is more effective and healthier than modern medicine.

What I really like and connected to was the idea of things coming back to their source, and never truly being ‘dead’ or ‘finished’. In some ways we can see this reflected in our world, with the idea of plants and their seeds. But it’s harder for us to accept this on a larger scale when not dealing with nature.

As I’ve mentioned in many of my previous posts, I am a huge believer that nature can teach us so much. I feel that these lessons about life and death, opposite forces working together, and the power of water can all be applied to how we live our lives.
In the natural order of things, it’s important for humans to understand that things are interconnected, and not every ending is final-there are beginnings of other things that may or may not even be related. It is important to keep an open mind.

This will be seen soon in my spot that I’ve chosen. The flowers will die, and it will become colder and darker. This doesn’t mean it’s not as beautiful or that things have come to an end. This will allow me to observe new things, new animals perhaps, and a new cycle that I couldn’t see before. This isn’t the end of something-but rather the beginning of a new time of observation and reflection.

For this entry I want to make some goals for myself. I want to appreciate the outdoors more now that it’s cooling off a bit. I want to spend at least an hour a day outside doing as little as possible. I want to slow down a little and appreciate the small things, and stop stressing over things that I cannot control. I want to act more like water and be willing to adapt when things are in my way. I also want to continue exploring this area and find other sports that make the city life seem to disappear. These are just some of the goals I’d like to set for myself so I can notice the lessons nature can teach me.

Last updated October 05, 2018